Communicating with individuals who cannot see nor hear is often very difficult. These individuals, because of their handicaps, are informationally deprived. Since few such individuals learn Braille, the almost universal mode of communication with the deaf and blind is the one-hand alphabet. Since there are only a few non-deaf people who know the one-hand alphabet, the deaf-blind individuals are limited to the number of people with whom they can communicate. Since the deaf-blind have so little opportunity to communicate, many of them are functionally retarded. Because they cannot see, it is necessary for them to feel configurations of the hand forming the one-hand alphabet thereby requiring physical contact with the person with whom they are communicating.
Other electromechanical means for "hands-off" communication with the deaf-blind are difficult and require the deaf-blind to learn a new code. For example, electro-stimulation via skin surface electrodes requires the learning of a new code, and presents the additional problem of maintaining a reliable and constant level of stimulation.
The one-hand manual alphabet can be found in Riekehof, Talk To The Deaf, Gospel Publishing House, 1445 Boonville Ave., Springfield, Mo., p.1 (Library of Congress, No. 63-17975). A copy of the one-hand manual alphabet is included with this application.